


A Visit at Twelve

by SummerDarlings



Category: One Piece
Genre: Complicated Relationships, Father-Son Relationship, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Mother-Son Relationship, Multi, Reunions, slight angst, stubborn and complicated beings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-28
Updated: 2015-11-28
Packaged: 2018-05-03 20:42:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5306132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerDarlings/pseuds/SummerDarlings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dragon has a some what strained relationship with his father, or more so, a relationship between them hardly existed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Visit at Twelve

By this point, Dragon was fairly well acquainted with the idea of his father flowing in and out of his life. It was a comfortable, soundless acknowledgement, the only arrangement Dragon had ever really known.

From enlightening experience, he could tell Monkey D. Garp was just about as consistent as the tide of the ocean. Pulling out into the depths of the unknown and then crashing back in with an equal amount of ferocity and impulsive percussions. When his father was there he made sure that his presence was explicitly abundant and if Dragon remembered anything about him it was a booming voice echoing through the burrowed depths of his mind.

Garp was as loud as Dragon’s mother was astute. Where his mother quietly observed, allowing the wheels to turn in her mind before she spoke, his father had no qualms about holding back. Dragon remembered how his bursts of obnoxious laughter would shake his whole body. He remembered how he had a habit of breaking things, causing destruction to what was in his path. Because apparently walls and doors shouldn’t have the audacity to be in his way. In some manner Dragon found this amusing though it was difficult to dissect this between the vibrant annoyance.

The small gems of the past were like the moon, falling behind the dark clouds before briefly glowing into sight. But when Garp was gone he was gone; absorbed into the outside world, far beyond Dawn Island’s horizon and Dragon would vaguely forget he had even ever had a father. Especially if the evidence of it was only for a short time.

Apparently it was that time where the tide would come crashing against the rocks, eroding the surface and changing the pace of each similar day. Because Dragon, at twelve years old, was looking up, up, up at a barrel of a man glaring down a him with a wide, ridiculous smile stretching across his face.

Dragon was standing outside his house, book clutched in his hand and a clenched fist with his free one. As he stared up the large build blocked out the falling sun and shadowed his face. Dragon was startled as he saw him and his body tensed, having to double take as the mans face began to twine with his loose memories of a man he had seen years before. It only took him a few blinks to realise who he was. _Mother was not going to be happy_.

“Well? Aren’t you going to give your father a hug?” Garp chuckled. Dragon yelped as he was abruptly pulled into a head lock, a muscled arm tightening around his neck whilst a large hand ruffled his dark hair. “I didn’t know you were able to grow kid”

_Yes, that tends to happen to human beings. What were you expecting? Me to still be the same eight-year-old kid who wanted his dad’s attention? Do you expect time to pause for you every time you leave and it be the same when you come back? Well it’s not going to happen, surely you can’t be that selfish to think we can continue from where we left off._

A low, irritated groan rumbled from his chest as he struggled to get out of the grip. All the while Garp laughed languidly, his overbearing voice swallowing Dragon’s sounds of aggravation.

Dragon pushed away as soon as his grip loosened, his eyes narrowing as he flattened down his messed up hair. He put on his best peeved expression, one that he was especially proud of after years of watching his mother. Really though he was just glad her didn't have to introduce himself to his own father. He sighed mutedly, as if he was dealing with an over grown child, which- he supposed- wasn’t far from the truth.

“What are you doing here?” Dragon grilled, eyeing Garp warily from where he stood.

“Heh? That’s the greeting I get?” Garp whined, “I have time off work kid, so I decided I would spend it peacefully in the East Blue with my family”.

Dragon raised a brow sceptically. He often has time off and doesn’t come here so why…?

“Really…” He glowered, “since when have you made anything peaceful old man, I could hear you all the way from Foosha”

“Can’t stop me from catching up with old friends” Garp sniffed.

Dragon went to rub the back of his neck. From what Dragon could tell, Garp was long friends with almost every person in that village, particularly with the aspiring leader of the towns people Woop Slap. Garp was a marine- a budding, youthful one, on the verge of fame for his many confrontational punch ups with a certain group of striving pirates- and therefore the villagers adored and respected the audacious man. Better yet Garp had been born and raised in the same village and the elders tried to portray him as a role model for the young. Those who lacked the ambition to aspire beyond the safety of Dawn Island and onto bigger things. Apparently this didn’t work, because on the off occasion Dragon would visit Foosha with his mother everyone looked perfectly content where they were, in the village that they had built together and would pass on to the generations to come.

“I was gaining valuable information. Woop Slap was telling me how you were getting into trouble with the Goa Kingdom, haven’t you been told to stay away from there” Garp gave Dragon a pointedly disapproving look, of which he thought was incredibly uncalled for. “Leave them be”.

_They were bitching about me? How surprising_. Dragon mused inwardly, without any real venom.

“Since when do you get to say where I do and don’t go, mind your own business old man” Dragon rebuked, despite title and respectability, Garp was hardly one to lecture. “For the record, I wasn’t bothering them! I wanted to sign up for the entrance exam and –”

“An entrance exam? Why would a kid like you want to take an exam?” Garp interjected, genuinely baffled.

Dragon huffed, what was that supposed to mean?

“The children in Goa get to go to school, I want to go to school too” Dragon argued. Garp was quiet, a rare and precious occurrence, so he continued. “There isn’t any real school house in the village, there’s only apprenticeships when they’re ready so I -”

“The citizens of that village get their education by reading and are taught by their parents whilst they’re still young, there isn’t any reason for them to go to school” Garp returned, eyes pointed down to him and arms resolutely crossed.

“But I’ve read almost all of the books we have and those kids get to learn so much more than what’s in these books”

“The Goa children are taking after their parents just as much as the villages children do.” Garp paused, brows furrowing somehow further than they usually did. “Has that woman been blabbering to you again? Who do you expect to pay for you to have this reading business? There’s no reason for a kid like you to go to school”

Dragon didn’t answer, too frustrated that the man would turn towards his mother for an explanation for his behaviour, rather than considering the actual problem to be unfair. It was bizarre to be lectured like this from a man he hardly knew and had little feelings towards besides confusion and mistrust. His fists clenched harder and digging his blunt nails into the hard book cover. Pressing his lips together he resigned to look down to the book he had placed in both of his hands.

He held back a twitch eager to break out, Garp could not and would not understand the predicament. From what Dragon could tell, in Foosha the children would have stalked their parents attending their jobs on a daily basis and as a result would be very good at said job later. It would be all they would ever know to do; it is generally difficult to expand your possibilities when the possibilities themselves were shielded from your view. As far as these villagers were aware they had their path and they must walk down it, anything bigger was either considered ludicrous or didn’t pass through the mind. There was always the prospect that at their happiest they would be in Foosha village being a bar maid or a shop keeper, perhaps that’s exactly where they wanted to be. However, the issue was there wasn’t much of a conscious choice in the matter, even if they were content. To be able to leave and live a legal life was a tough challenge when lacking the worldly knowledge. An aptitude that Dragon knew the Goa children _did_ have, as if it was as natural as the way they strolled and spoke and certainly not the product of thousands of beri’s of tuition for exceptional tutoring.

“Dragon, I have decided that you are far too serious for a kid. You need to loosen up” Garp declared conclusively, his arms crossed and head nodding as if he had made up his mind. And just like that, Dragon knew the flip in Garp’s head had switched, he had lost interest in what ever he felt was concerning before. Dragon found little worth in bothering any further and resigned himself to go with what ever Garp wanted.

“What do you mean?” Dragon asked finally, his head tilting slightly in its inquisitiveness.

“You’re only this young for a short time, take having no obligation to go to school as a blessing. When I was your age I was battling tigers and chasing after treasure,” Garp reminisced, eyes closed in euphoria as the back of his eyelids relit the romanticised scenes of his boyhood, nodding along to his own words. “Yes a real forming of a man, its an extraordinary thing- watching yourself get stronger and stronger.”

Dragon frowned, feeling mildly sorry for the tiger that had to be on the receiving end of one of Garp’s aching punches (now that was something he _did_ remember).

He almost spoke up but his words died and Garp’s eyes shot up from Dragon to the space above his head. The front door had crept open from their small, well kept bungalow, screeching leisurely at the hinges. Garp’s expression had melted from playful affection to a sharp solemnity in a blink.

Dragon twisted around though he could tell immediately who it was before doing so he internally cringed as he saw his mother standing at the door way. Dark eyes focused on the man across from them, brows furrowed and lips flattened into a stern line. She looked like she was biding her time, arms crossed as she studied Garp and leant against the door frame. Dragon knew his mother was certainly not going to be the one to speak first, if the heavy atmosphere was going to weigh them all down then so be it. A few seconds of significant silence ticked away and even Garp appeared wary to step into unguarded territory that would disturb the speechless atmosphere, his lips tight clearly not wanting to say a thing.

“Ada” Garp eventually started. “Its been a long time, hasn’t it?” He shoved a half laugh out awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck slowly.

“Indeed” She agreed shortly. Adalinda had a deep, syrupy voice, almost ethereal in its fortification with contemplation and intellect. She had an abundant presence though it wasn’t formed by loudness or shoving actions, it was a respectable quietness that attained the trust and emulation of almost everyone around her. Even if the said people didn’t necessarily like her.

Her dark eyes flickered to where Dragon stood, draping down to his closed fists and back to Garp again.

“What nonsense are you feeding this boy now Garp?” She probed. Her tone didn’t give a lot away, but from Dragon’s perspective it was laced delicately with danger.

Garp scoffed, seemingly affronted. “Aren’t you the one letting him have ideas about learning with the Goa children. Don’t put his hopes up like that woman!”

Ada glanced at Dragon, quietly contemplating Garp’s words. Finally, she then firmly placed her hands onto her wide waist and glowered at Garp sternly. “Dragon is an intelligent boy, he decided completely on his own that he wanted to take the exam.” She confirmed.

“That boy needs to learn his place; does he actually believe he can pass it?” Garp shrugged to himself, clearly done with this argument. “Anyway I have some business to attend to on this island so –”

“Garp _you_ – Dragon cover your ears - Garp _you selfish bastard_. He deserves damn more than whatever crap your telling him, he is entitled to have an education and I will do everything in my power to assure he will get it. _I_ can promise you of that,” Her voice seemed to rumble, growing deeper as if she gradually grew angrier the longer she spoke of Garp’s behaviour. “Furthermore, you certainly are not leaving so fast we have important matters to discuss”.

Garp once again said nothing but nevertheless looked on with a peeved and pouting expression directly into Ada’s eyes. Garp was a considerably large man, tall, toned and muscled, however Ada was just as tall with a similarly hefty build. She was a big woman that could be summarised as thick legs, bulky arms and dark bronze skin that would glimmer in the sunlight with an organised mess of black curls turning around her face. She walked with grace and swayed her arms with poise and in a lot of ways, she was the epitome of beauty. In terms of physicality’s Garp was in no way an intimidating comparison.

From what Dragon could remember over the years of his short life was that Garp and his mother had never been together. Not in the sense of married couples that seemed to be pleasantly surviving off each others presence. Comfortable enough in one another’s company to raise offspring and create a remarkably ordinary, suburban life that they lived happily within. That’s what Dragon often saw in the other kids parents anyway. Garp and Adalinda however, where far from this. Instead their dynamic burnt like opposing elements. Fundamentally, they were impartially similar and yet at the same time conspicuously very different beings. The electricity between them would always be there but they were far too destructive of one another to ever class it completely as ‘love’. Though maybe in some contrived way, it was for them. They were not married and any title was refrained from being used; however, the only strong connection really binding them together that people could physically see was the product of their relationship- Dragon. To put it pleasantly, it was substantially complicated.

“Dragon, go with him for a while”

Dragon looked to his mother, raising his eyebrows in disbelief but had no desire to defy her.

Adalinda turned back into the house dismissively, stepping in and then giving one final glance towards Dragons father.

“Oh and Garp” He turned to look at her, her dark eyes glinting, “no fighting with tigers allowed.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well look at this, I actually gathered enough courage to post my work online! Miracles do exist. Furthermore I've decided to write this right in the middle of my last year of A levels with a hell of a lot of work to do because apparently I know where my priorities lie. 
> 
> Honestly I'm not completely happy with this but I think if I reread this anymore I'll scream. I haven't really written anything like this before and I find fan fiction particularly challenging. I believe Garp and Dragon are probably ooc in this but honestly is it really that possible to write in character when every writer has there own interpretation? Their own head canons for why a character does a certain thing or acts a certain way? This short story is purely from idea I've been thinking about for almost years now since I begun reading One Piece. And since I highly doubt Oda will give us well rounded female characters in the foreseeable future I thought I would take liberties in how I thought Dragon's mum could be like. Polar opposite couples have got to be my favourite thing and I love the idea of that dynamic with Garp. This was also quite difficult to write because we don't know a whole lot about Dragon and Garp based on what we've seen in canon.
> 
> This fic has very little plot tbh but really I just wanted to provide a kind of study between Dragon's relationship's with his parents, his role in society and how that provides some sort of explanation for his eventually formed revolutionary army. Society has always been such an interesting thing in the One Piece universe and I wanted to create a obvious parallel to the real world in this fic and explore how the people of Dawn Island are effected. Dragon is surrounded by prejudice and social class and I kind of image that he was at the bottom of the food chain. 
> 
> I really hope to improve my writing skills and I guess this is where I start. I look forward to rereading this in the future and cringing.  
> Any way I hope you stick around for the next chapter, though I can't guess when I'll have time to finish it what with school work. I'm excited to write about Garp's relationship with Roger which should come up next time.  
> Comments and kudos always appreciated!


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